


Are we not?

by sohardtopickaname



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: After the Battle of Winterfell, Comfort, Embarrassment, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, Post-Episode: s08e03 The Long Night, the first night together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 13:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18851755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohardtopickaname/pseuds/sohardtopickaname
Summary: Podrick comes into Brienne's room after the battle to tell her something important but finds that he really has nothing to tell her.





	Are we not?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this between the third and fourth episodes. It was crystal-clear that they would sure as hell act on their feelings (finally), so I let my imagination run free and come up with a nice way for them to do it. I did not have an account here and wasn't able to publish it back then, so now it is not canon-compliant, of course. However, let's pretend that canon didn't happen. Just for a moment. Please.

A knock on the door was loud and desperate.

\- Pod? - Brienne asked, her eyes still closed. - Come in.

She heard a fumbling sound at the door, a few heavy steps, and concern in Podrick’s voice.

\- M’lady, I mean Ser, I thought you should know.... - he abruptly stopped just when she opened her eyes.

He was looking at her in astonishment, or shock, or else. It was then that she realized that she did not wear clothes in bed and her bare shoulders were showing. Worse still, the bare shoulders of Jaime Lannister were showing as well.

She could not have possibly explained it all to her squire, at least not here and now, so the only way forward was to ignore the obvious.

\- Yes, Pod, what is that that I should know? - she asked in a deliberately calm voice.

He blinked.

\- I guess... nothing now, really.

\- I do not quite understand, can you please be more coherent?

\- I mean... - he mumbled, - They were looking for Ser Jaime and could not find him, so they all thought he left for King’s Landing. I figured you would like to know before going to the Great Hall.

\- Thank you, it was very thoughtful of you, - she replied softly. - Could you please let them know that you found Ser Jaime and he will join them shortly?

Podrick nodded.

\- And could you please spare them the details? - she added, avoiding his gaze.

\- Of course, M’lady. Ser, - he nodded again and darted out of the room.

\- Gods, - she groaned, turning her face to Jaime.

\- Good morning, - Jaime smiled at her.

\- Good?

\- Of course. We could have never seen it at all.

\- I don’t know if it’s worth our reputations, - she snorted.

\- I don’t have one to begin with. Yours is too clean to be tainted. Besides, Podrick is loyal to the core, he will never tell anyone.

\- Of course he will not. But he will think... I need to get dressed, - she murmured after a pause.

\- Of course, - he bowed his head and turned his eyes away.

She slid from under the covers, opened a large chest in which she kept clothes, and dressed quickly. Then she took out another pair of breeches and a clean linen shirt.

\- Here, - she put them on the bed and turned away. - You cannot wear that, - she nodded towards a pile of filthy rugs that used to be their clothes just a day earlier. - I hope it fits.

\- Thank you, - she heard Jaime’s soft voice and the shuffle of covers behind her.

Her shirt was a tad too narrow for him in the shoulders and the breeches a tad too loose in the hips, but not enough for people to notice, she hoped.

 

***

 

After the dead suddenly stopped being undead, a moment of deafening silence quickly passed, and the air became filled with the moans of the wounded. Those still standing looked petrified, all of them, but someone had to assume the command, and so she did.

\- All of us who can walk and stand must first assist the wounded! Search every inch of the ground, the walls and the ruins. In pairs, to be able to carry those you find alive into the castle. The soldier sleeping quarters will do. Go!

The men and women around stirred, as if awoken, and began the search. She saw Jon staring at her from the middle of the yard.

\- The Godswood, - she told him. - Take a few men with you. We will go to the crypt.

Without saying a word, Jon nodded gratefully. He needed a clear order.

\- Pod, take a few people and prepare the quarters for the wounded. You may have to drag out some of these, - she looked at the rotting piles of bodies on the ground with disgust. - And try to find the Maester.

Only after Podrick left, she looked at Jaime. He nodded and sheathed his sword. Hers was still in her hand, and she suddenly felt how heavy it was.

 

***

 

They did not quite reach the crypt when they saw Sansa, pale and clutching what looked like a dagger, and Tyrion, walking towards them.

\- Gods, I thought everyone... - Sansa’s voice broke.

\- I ordered the search for the wounded already, but you must order that fire, light and food are provided, my Lady. Your brother and his men went to the Godswood.

\- Yes, Lady Brienne, - she inhaled sharply but managed to stay calm. - Anything else that has to be done?

\- Another search party has to go outside the gates. I will lead it.

Sansa nodded.

\- Anything else, anything at all? For you?

Brienne paused, thinking, then made a decision.

\- Please order water and towels to be brought to my chambers, enough for two people, and some salve. After the search, we will all have to clean and rest. Maesters do not need more people collapsed from exhaustion or infected wounds. And open the baths for all those who fought today.

\- Of course, Lady Brienne.

\- Ser, - Tyrion said lightly. - My brother knighted her a few hours before the battle, you would not have known.

Sansa smiled, kindly and happily.

\- Then a celebration is in order, Ser Brienne.

\- Not before we bury the dead, my Lady, - said Brienne.

\- Of course.

\- Now excuse us, we shall go.

Jaime followed her silently, through the yard and through her talk with that unsullied man, who promised to follow them with his men shortly, but about when they reached the gate, he sighed.

\- Your squire is a lucky man, the way you treat him.

\- What? - she stopped and looked at him, visibly confused.

\- Water. You ordered water for two people.

\- Oh, - she blushed. - I assumed he would be able to take a bath with other soldiers.

\- But then... oh, - he looked at her for a brief moment and then turned away, trying to hide tears. It did not take much for tears to flow after a night like this, and she would probably understand, but he felt embarrassed nonetheless.

\- You were not assigned a room before the battle and I thought...

\- Thank you, - he touched her armored shoulder but she thought she felt it on her skin.

\- If anyone is alive and can hear me, make a sound! - she yelled at the top of her lungs.

\- Help! - they heard a high-pitched shriek from afar.

\- The Queen, - said Brienne, and they almost broke into a run.

 

***

 

They reached Brienne’s chambers on sheer willpower, helped each other out of the armor, covered in dirt and flecks of rotten flesh, took off their clothes, bloody and soaked in sweat. Trying to be modest or courteous would require strength which neither of them had, so they washed themselves and each other in the same water, and shared the last bucket, pouring half each on the other’s head. He did not have clean clothes. She did, but she was too tired to even think about them. Besides, they needed to treat the wounds, which they also did in silence. They crawled under the furs on her bed, back to back, and fell asleep instantly.

 

***

 

\- Thank you, - said Jaime again, opening the door into the corridor and nodding for her to lead the way.

She wanted to say something but decided not to. They walked only about ten feet along the corridor when they saw Podrick running towards them.

\- What is it? - she asked sharply.

\- I swear I did not tell anyone, but...

\- But? - she nudged him.

\- Lord Tyrion, he stopped me and asked why I did not say where I found Ser Jaime. I said it wasn’t important, and then he laughed and... and winked.

\- Of course, - snorted Jaime. - Tyrion.

\- Wonderful, - Brienne's intonation reminded Jaime of Valyrian steel and of the way she once thanked Roose Bolton for the dress. - Now what, the entire Winterfell will think we are in love?

There was an awkward pause. Podrick froze. Jaime glanced at him, then at Brienne. It was a determined glance.

\- Are we not, though? - he asked softly.

Brienne gasped, her eyes so wide and so blue that Jaime shivered.

Podrick somehow disappeared, perhaps by walking backwards and sliding into the nearest empty room, perhaps by turning into a shadow and flying through the wall, anything seemed possible now. It was just the two of them.

\- I guess, - she had to cough before speaking again. - I guess we may be.

He smiled at her, the winning smile of a Golden Lannister Boy he has always been, and looked into her impossibly blue eyes, the look of a man of honor he has learned to be.


End file.
